Fresh Tomato Suggestions
Posted
Fri, 08/15/03
There was another Cooking Club of America (now defunct)
newsletter in my e-mail inbox yesterday, with a particular section I
found interesting. I tried linking to the article, but the link only
works from the newsletter and is for members only. CCA recently took
a reader's survey asking favorite uses for garden-fresh tomatoes,
and the results were surprisingly original. I thought I knew all of
the various ways to prepare tomatoes, but I was wrong.
Some of us are now enjoying the bounty from our gardens, while
others have to wait a few more weeks, depending on when you planted
your tomatoes. Below are some of the responses to the survey (directly
from CCA). I must admit some of the ideas are simply divine:
Thickly slice fresh tomato and place between slices of homemade
bread rubbed with garlic, slathered with mayonnaise and then
blanketed with freshly picked leaf lettuce. It's even better if
the sandwich is allowed to stand for a few minutes for the
juices to soak into the bread (from Ron Noble & David Fogleman).
Sauté sliced zucchini and or yellow summer squash, sliced onion,
sliced garlic and fresh tomatoes cut into wedges in olive oil
until everything is soft (from Maureen Faubert).
Some of the CCA readers surveyed also had offerings for using
tomatoes in side dishes:
Dice vine-ripe tomatoes with a ripened avocado and cover with
olive oil, sea salt, fresh ground pepper and fresh lemon juice.
Let the mixture stand in the refrigerator for thirty minutes,
and then serve as a side dish with either tuna or chicken
sandwiches on fresh-baked bread layered with fresh spinach and
sprouts (from Judy Cagnina).
Cut
cherry tomatoes in half and toss with extra-virgin olive oil,
salt, black pepper, minced garlic, fresh basil and a splash of
balsamic vinegar. Pour mixture onto a cookie sheet and roast at
400-degrees F until the tomatoes are wrinkled and roasted. A
variation is to roast the cherry tomatoes with asparagus (from
Lephie Banitsiotis).
For
a refreshing salad, slice tomatoes 1/4"-thick and arrange on a
platter, overlapping slightly. Top with fresh basil and crumbled
goat cheese, and season with salt and freshly cracked black
pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. For a
twist, pop the salad under the broiler for a few minutes (from
Melissa Biedlingmaier).
Chop fresh tomatoes and add to a bowl of low-fat cottage cheese
with pepper to taste, and spread onto a bed of fresh spinach
leaves (from Shannon O'Hara).
Cut
a garden tomato into wedges, leaving it connected on the bottom,
and top with prepared tuna salad (from Tambi Jones).
Core the tomato, sprinkle with coarse garlic salt and stuff with
Italian cheese. Wrap the tomato in greased foil and cook on the
grill until the cheese is melted. Serve with a tossed salad.
Another variation is to stuff the tomato with herb cream cheese
(from Jen Clark and Karen McNitt).
Other tasty suggestions included preparing salsa, fried green
tomatoes with hominy and fresh tomato sauce, or simply blanch any
over abundance of tomatoes and freeze for use in winter.
Tags: Gardening;
Vegetables
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